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English. He is known as the translator of several books of Virgil, and of a poetical translation of 'Hecatombe Christiana,' by Boyd of Trochrig. He was the author of a work, entitled 'The True Crucifixe for True Catholikes; and he also executed a version of the Psalms. Any reflective person-be he painter, or poet, or antiquarian-may pass an hour or two of very pleasant indolence in this neighbourhood.

STEWARTON-DUNLOP-DALRY.

A walk northward, through a rather uninteresting country, brings us to Stewarton, on the banks of the Annack water. The manufacture of Kilmarnock bonnets and cowls is here carried on to a considerable extent. But beyond its mere usefulness the town has little enough to recommend it: so sparing our eyesight any further infliction of its miserable streets and unsightly tenements, we beat a precipitate retreat, and ourselves and the town become better strangers,' without perhaps a regret on either side.

We next pause at Dunlop-so celebrated for its dairy produce. In the parish churchyard may be seen. the tomb of Barbara Gilmour, who lived during the religious troubles of the reign of Charles II., and to whom fame attributes the honour of having discovered the mode of manufacturing the peculiar cheese for which the locality is still duly honoured.

Dalry, to the north-west of Dunlop, may be said to have arisen out of a mine-since it is to the mineral resources of the locality that it owes its importance.

The majority of its population find employment at the Ayrshire Iron-works, adjacent.

But, in pursuance of our design, it is here necessary that we should retrace our steps back to Kilmarnock: the reader will therefore be good enough to imagine us back again, sallying forth from that ancient town

RICCARTON-YARDSIDE.

On the south bank of the Irvine, and connected with Kilmarnock by two bridges, stands-and it stood there ages ago-the village of Riccarton, famed for its connection with Sir William Wallace. The parish church has some points of attraction, and occupies a conspicuous position in the landscape.

A few hundred yards to the west of the village is the farm-steading of Yardside-a one-story thatched cottage, occupying the site of the residence of Wallace's maternal uncle, with whom the hero seems to have spent his youthful days. It was here that he performed the feat which first marked him out for distinction-the discomfiture of the English soldiers, who demanded of him his fish, the fruit of his day's sport. The anecdote is preserved by tradition and Blind Harry. The metrical version of the Minstrel is very graphically given. The Bickering Bush,' so long sacred in the eyes of patriotic Scotland, as marking the place of battle, existed until the year 1825, when some ruthless woodman did not "spare that tree" which, either through ignorance or irreverence, was

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ruthlessly destroyed. The place which was the scene of one brilliant exploit not unfrequently protected the hero from the consequences of others. It was to Yardside that Wallace was wont to fly whenever his prowess made the surrounding country too hot to hold him. In a neighbouring garden is a venerable peartree, said to be planted by his hand-but Scotland has been a free country ever since Wallace made it so, and the pilgrim is not obliged to believe all he hears.

DUNDONALD AND ITS CASTLE-THE WONDROUS VASE.

Pursuing for a few miles a westward course we arrive at the village of Dundonald, situated at the foot of the range of high hills which intervene between it and the Clyde. The most interesting object in the neighbourhood is Dundonald Castle-a ruin dilapidated enough to enrapture an antiquary or drive an utilitarian into a lunatic asylum. It is celebrated for the long residence of King Robert II., and the short visit of Dr. Johnson. The latter, we are told, was both amazed and amused at the fact of a King having inhabited so dismal a place.

We are inclined to believe that tradition, generally speaking, is only entitled to that species of credence which would be accorded to Sheridan's friend who was said to draw upon his imagination for his facts, and upon his memory for his wit-but, nevertheless, let it speak for itself, and take its chance. A story connected with this place is derived from the source in question. We are told that Dundonald Castle owes its existence to an humble individual named Donald Din; that this individual, obeying the mandates of a dream, made a journey to London Bridge, where he was assured he would by some means come across a large fortune; that on arriving at the bridge he met a stranger, to whom he communicated his mission; that the stranger threw doubts on his chances of success, observing that he, the stranger, had been assured in a dream that he would find a treasure somewhere in the county of Ayr, but that he treated the vision with contempt. The Scot, however, equally cannie and credulous, presently perceived, from his description of the place, that the treasure, if it existed, was deposited in his own garden. He accordingly retraced his steps: and after incurring much labour, and more ridicule, he had the pleasure of disinterring a vast vase, full of gold. With the proceeds of this treasure he built a castle and founded a family. Hogg, in his Winter Evening Tales,' gives a similar story to this of the wondrous vase.

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In the immediate vicinity of Dundonald Castle there may be traced the foundations of an ancient church, which was designated, 'Our Lady's Kirk of Kyle.' The Stuarts-the hereditary lords of the bailliewick particularly favoured this church. James IV., we are told, never passed through that part of the country without making an offering.

TROON-IRVINE.

Traversing the rugged and bramble-clothed hills of Dundonald, we descend to the little seaport town of Troon. Formerly of little importance, it has now become the first port in Ayrshire. Spacious basins, dry and wet docks, and extensive storehouses, comprise the principal utilities, if not elegances, of the place. The railway between Kilmarnock and Troon was the first established in Scotland. This communication, and the facilities of steam transit between Troon and Fleetwood, have materially benefited the trade of the town, which is still rapidly increasing. The place is also popular as a holiday resort for the Kilmarnock people. (Cut, No. 10.)

Two miles north of Troon, at the distance of about a mile from the Frith of Clyde, stands the ancient royal burgh of Irvine. This place has been considered

almost from that uncertain period known as 'time immemorial'-as the capital of Cunninghame, over which, by a charter granted by Robert II., it exercised complete jurisdiction. In common, however, with Rome and Athens, Irvine has fallen from its former greatness; and has found even worse enemies than Goths and Vandals in the rising importance of adjacent towns. Its present trade consists, principally, of coal ; an omen, let us hope, that the former fire of its prosperity may yet be enkindled; and in the event of its expiring, that some phoenix of industry and enterprise may be found to rise out of the ashes. In appearance the town seems flourishing enough. The main street is wide and handsome, the shops plentiful, and the public buildings--of which the principal are a parish church and a town-house-sufficiently handsome.

In a neat two-story house in the main street, Galt, the celebrated novelist, was first introduced to the world. His 'Annals of the Parish' refer, we believe, to his native town. In a more humble and obscure tenement, now occupied as a weaver's shop, situated at the entrance of an alley called 'Braid's Close,' James Montgomery was born. His father officiated as preacher in the Moravian Kirk' close by. It was in this town that Robert Burns began to learn the business of a flax-dresser; when the shop in which he was engaged was burnt down, and he was left, as he says, "like a true poet, without a sixpence." The site of the shop is supposed-by Robert Chambersto be now occupied by a new house, marked '4,' in a narrow street, called the Glasgow Vennel.

KILWINNING ITS ABBEY, AND ITS SAINT.

The wanderer in Ayrshire would do well to walk from Irvine to the next town, Kilwinning, which is situated about three miles to the northward. Eglintoun Castle, the sumptuous seat of the representative of the Montgomery family, intervenes. It is surrounded to the extent of several miles, by plantations, which, extending to the high road, communicate to it an agreeable and retired aspect. The neatly-trimmed hedges, and fine trees overhanging them; the pretty

lodges in the midst of shrubs and flowers; the frequent glimpses to the left of the Clyde, and to the right of the splendid palace of Eglintoun-all contribute to the beauty and interest of the walk. It was there that, in 1838, the celebrated Tournament attracted all the chivalry of the nineteenth century, and imparted to the languid dandyism of Young England something very much akin to a 'sensation.'

In the immediate neighbourhood are the Eglintoun Iron-works, and numerous coal-pits, which afford employment to a large number of persons — who, however, are chiefly Irish. The tourist should not forget that the parish churchyard contains some interesting monuments; and that from the tower, a view, unequalled hereabouts, of the surrounding country, of the hills of Carrick, of the proud peaks of Arran, and of several smaller islands to the northward, is obtainable.

SALTCOATS AND ARDROSSAN.

A few miles of well-cultivated country, to the southwest of Kilwinning, lies between that place and Saltcoats-a small town, situated on a sandy level. The place possesses a small harbour, the boats belonging to which are engaged chiefly in the herring trade. Our old friend, Tradition, asserts that the manufacture of salt was anciently carried on here by a small com

The village of Kilwinning stands on the right bank of the river Garnock, which joins the Irvine and empties itself into the Clyde. In associations the place is rich; in every other respect it is poor and comfortless enough. Now, notwithstanding that we have sufficient reverence for the past and anticipations of the future, we confess to a certain prejudice in favour of the present, when our personal comforts and tastes are concerned; and unless we adopt that profitless, and perhaps scarcely respectable, style of existence, known among poets as living "in the Ideal" but classed by mediocrity and mere honesty as some-munity of individuals, who used coal for the purpose thing worse than an actual garret-it is difficult, with any satisfaction, to exchange the one for the other. We cannot, therefore, recommend Kilwinning as an eligible residence.

The locality derives its name from St. Winning, a Scottish saint of the eighth century. The abbey was founded in the twelfth century, by Hugh de Morville, for a colony of Tyronensian monks, from Kelso; and was dedicated, like the church which preceded it, to St. Winning. The monks of Kilwinning were celebrated even above all their contemporaries for their craftiness and chicanery, and for the power which they exercised over the duped and deluded community.

To the west of the Abbey there is a fountain, known as 'St. Winning's Well;' which, in the year 1184, according to Hoveden, ran blood for eight days and nights. A tradition current in the neighbourhood asserts that this fountain, on the anniversary of the death of the saint from whom it derives its name, ran blood for a stated period, during which it was visited by large numbers of people from the surrounding country, in the belief that the crimson stream was a certain cure for all diseases. Not more than a dozen years ago, a curious light was thrown upon this subject. An underground communication of leaden pipes, was discovered between the well and the ruins of the abbey; and it would appear that the monks made use of this medium for the conveyance of their patron's blood!

The abbey was almost totally annihilated in 1560, by Alexander, "the good Earl of Glencairn," by order of the States-General of Scotland. The ruins remaining are in a course of rapid decay.

Like the city of York in England, the town of Kilwinning in Scotland is known as being the first place where freemasonry was established in that country. It is said to have been introduced by a community of the order from the continent. James I. patronized and became Grand Master of the mother-lodge, which had for a long time slumbered in obscurity.

of fuel, which they found near the surface in their neighbourhood. Saltcoats was also the first place in Scotland where magnesia was manufactured in connection with salt. The male portion of the population are now principally engaged in light weaving.

The sea

Saltcoats is very intimately connected with the flourishing town of Ardrossan, which, situated at the northern extremity of the Bay of Ayr-of recent construction, and composed mostly of houses belonging to a more wealthy class of people-Ardrossan presents a powerful contrast to its tile-roofed, smoke-begrimed neighbour, Saltcoats. During the last few years, considerable improvements have been made in the town, and various elegant villas built in its neighbourhood, for the accommodation of summer visitors. port of Ardrossan was founded by the late Earl of Eglintoun, and is finely sheltered from all but southwesterly gales, by the Horse Island, and other outlying rocks. The harbour will come into the possession of the Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ardrossan Railway Company, in 1850; when that undertaking—from which it is expected the town will derive so much benefit--will be completed. The distance between Ardrossan and Belfast is accomplished in eight hours, by means of the handsome and commodious steamers, constantly running, in connection with the Ayrshire railway. The harbour revenue, from this and other sources, amounts to a considerable sum.

LARGS ITS HARBOUR AND HILLS.

Still traversing the coast, to the northward, we pass through Kilbride, and are at length "out of the world and into the Largs." This health-inspiring district. was the scene of the conflict between Alexander III. and his army, and the Norwegian invaders, under Haco. The place seems literally "out of the world," and cut off from all earthly connections. Enclosed on all sides but one by vast hills, it is open only to the Frith of Clyde-here so busy and so beautiful. A

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